What are my backup options?

You can configure backups for your server in WHM's Backup Configurationinterface (WHM >> Home >> Backup >> Backup Configuration). This interface allows you to configure the way in which backups run on your server.

Can I select specific users' accounts to back up?

How does the system back up DNS zones?

If you use a DNSONLY™ cluster, the pkgacct script examines all of the DNS zones in the DNS cluster to find the record with the newest serial number. It then stores that DNS zone in the backup.

By default, backups are cluster-aware and pull the account's zone from the DNS cluster itself. To pull the account's zone from the local machine, enable the Use Local DNS option in WHM's Backup Configuration interface (WHM >> Home >> Backup >> Backup Configuration).

How can I use the rsync script with a cPanel & WHM backup?

We do not support backup procedures that use the rsync script.

While it is possible to use the rsync script with cPanel & WHM backups, we strongly recommend that you use cPanel-provided tools to ensure reliable backups. Under certain conditions, the rsync script may corrupt SQL database backups.

What does the system back up when I select configuration files? Where can I find the backups?

When you back up configuration files, the system automatically stores the files in the dirs and files directories. When you back up the entire MySQL directory, its contents are stored in the dirs directory.

Custom files

To configure system backups to include custom files or directories, create a new file or directory in the /var/cpanel/backups/extras directory (for example, /var/cpanel/backups/extras/etc). In that file, enter an absolute path to any files that you wish to back up (for example, /etc/example.conf).

Note:

The server administrator can edit the /etc/my.cnf file to change the MySQL data directory location. The system will back up the directory at its new location.

Can I run backups to locally mounted remote filesystems?

Warning:

If you use a mounted filesystem to store backups, we strongly recommend that you mount the system with the noexec option. If you pass the noexec parameter to the mount parameter, the binaries cannot run on the mounted filesystem.

We strongly recommend that you do not perform backups to remote filesystems (for example; NFS, CIFS, smbfs, or other types of network drive systems). While you can store a backup directly to a remote filesystem, cPanel & WHM does not support this configuration. We strongly recommend that you work with a qualified system administrator to manage this custom backup path to avoid potential risks.

You can configure a file system to use the noexec option by default. To do so, edit the /etc/fstab file. This file contains a list of mountable file systems and their configuration options.

To configure a mountable file system that automatically uses the noexec option, edit its entry in the /etc/fstab file to resemble the following example:

/dev/sda5 /backup ext3 defaults,noexec 0 0

Note:

Users who wish to mount or unmount a partition must place the partition in the /etc/fstab file. The backup utility only mounts or unmounts partitions that appear in the /etc/fstab file.

The example above describes the following configuration options:

Device

Default mount point

file system type

Mount options

Dump option

fsck order

/dev/sda5

/backup

ext3

defaults,noexec

0

0

To remount a backup disk while the system boots, run the following command:

mount -o remount,noexec /backup

Why do I see "Permission denied" errors when I back up to a CIFS-mounted drive?

When you try to back up to a CIFS-mounted drive, you may see errors that resemble the following:

A mount that does not support extended attributes will not function with cPanel's backup.

Can I control when backups run?

To choose which days to run backups and how many backups to retain, use the Scheduling and Retention section of the Backup Configuration interface (WHM >> Home >> Backup >> Backup Configuration).

You must manually alter the times at which backups run.

You can manually edit the dates on which backups run in the /var/cpanel/backups/config file.

To choose the time at which backups run, manually edit the root user's crontab.

For example, by default, the backup runs at 2:00 am. To change this time to 3:30 pm, run the following commands:

Run the crontab -l command to retrieve the time at which the Backups crontab runs. You will receive output that is similar to the following example:

0 1 * * * /usr/local/cpanel/scripts/cpbackup

Run the crontab -e command to open the cron editor.

Alter the 0 2 * * * /usr/local/cpanel/bin/backup line to resemble the following line:

30 15 * * * /usr/local/cpanel/bin/backup

Note:

For more information about the time syntax of Crontab, read Wiipedia'sCronarticle.

Why does my system retain more backups than I configured it to retain?

If your system system retains a greater number of backup files than you configured in WHM's Backup Configuration interface (WHM >> Home >> Backup >> Backup Configuration), your system cannot properly rotate your backup files. Your system's failure to rotate backup files indicates that the system experiences an error when it attempts to generate a new backup.

To check your system for backup file generation errors, change to the /usr/local/cpanel/logs/cpbackup directory and run the ls -al command to view a list of backup logs. Backup logs that contain errors may resemble the following example:

Network File System (NFS) settings with backups

Important:

cPanel Support does not officially support NFS. We provide this information for reference.

An NFS mount allows users to access files through a computer network similar to how you would access local storage. System backups utilize an NFS as mount options in the /etc/fstab directory. Backups use the following mount option:

In this example, NFS bases both the ip.ad.dre.ss:/export/path and /mountpoint values entirely on your setup.

Note:

We do not recommend that you use NFS over the Internet. You may use NFS as the primary backup directory, but this degrades your performance. We strongly recommend that you make the NFS mount point an additional "local directory destination." This action ensures that the system localizes backups and transfers them to the NFS directory.

cPanel, WebHost Manager, and WHM are registered trademarks of cPanel, Inc. for providing its computer software that facilitates the management and configuration of Internet web servers. ®2018 All rights reserved.

cPanel, WebHost Manager, and WHM are registered trademarks of cPanel, Inc. for providing its computer software that facilitates the management and configuration of Internet web servers. ®2018 All rights reserved.